Chapter 4
4
KASSIOPI, CORFU, GREECE
Four days later
‘I still can’t believe we’re getting an unexpected hot girl summer!’
Siobhan let out a squeal as she descended from the bus. Molly almost fell down the last step as her flip-flop gave way. The trip from the airport felt like it had taken six hours and twice as many hairpin bends to the soundtrack of Greek radio, horn beeping and the only Greek word she now knew – malaka . She was in Greece. Corfu, and this was Kassiopi, the village her mum had made sound like part of the set of Mamma Mia . In fact, she could have sworn Janette had been humming ‘Take a Chance on Me’ from the moment they’d boarded the flight. But now, feet swollen from the heat, standing next to the bus’s exhaust, bugs chirping from the trees, Molly took a minute to take it all in. A paved square marked by a green metal fence with benches inside, a grill house and a burger restaurant, a supermarket tucked into a corner, a large bar with outdoor seating, chatter, the sound of sizzling meats, Greek life…
‘Oh! It looks just the same!’ Janette remarked, hand to her chest like she was having a nostalgic reunion. And then, ‘But also… different. I’m sure that supermarket was called something else. And this burger place wasn’t here.’
And Molly was still wondering exactly why the three of them were here at all. Was it really necessary? She wasn’t sure. But, as soon as she had spoken to the solicitor, things had suddenly snowballed. She was a residuary beneficiary to Vaggelis Vlachos’s estate. That meant everything he owned had been left to her. Despite still not knowing exactly what ‘everything’ consisted of, the solicitor saying ‘chattels’, ‘property’ and ‘entire estate’ had been enough to get Janette on the phone to Aunt Maud, asking for a loan to subsidise the trip. In addition, as soon as Molly had mentioned it to Siobhan, her friend was booking onto the flight too, claiming Molly would need moral support and what a perfect opportunity it would be to get slick pics to support the make-up account. Siobhan wasn’t wrong, but Siobhan was also well-known for making lots of other opportunities, usually involving booze-fuelled nights that ended in chaos… or simply never really ended until sunrise. It seemed Siobhan’s work had been far more accommodating than Molly’s. She’d had to beg the pharmacy for a week off and cite Vaggelis’s death like he had been a beloved family member. When Agatha looked as if she was going to say no, the words ‘my dad’ had very nearly spilled from Molly’s lips. And she hadn’t really ruled that out either, despite what Janette had said. Because, given the whole gift in the will situation, it was the only thing that made any sense.
‘Well, you must be different now too, Janette, since the last time you visited,’ Siobhan said.
‘You mean older,’ Janette stated stiffly.
‘No, I didn’t mean that. I meant, look at your hair right now! Like a really really great stylist did her best work!’
Molly’s fingers went to her own freshly cut and styled hair, courtesy of Siobhan. They had both been given a free treat and while Janette had opted for a colour – deep pinky wine – Molly had gone for a good few inches off and an elongated bob. Not that less hair was helping at all in this heat. She grabbed their cases from the bus’s luggage stow before the driver could close the door.
‘I had long hair the last time I was here and I put lemon juice on it when I was tanning to make it go blonder,’ Janette told them with a sigh.
‘Could someone help me with the cases?’ Molly asked, beads of sweat forming on her brow as she tried not to drag a wheel over a sleeping cat, its legs poking out onto the path.
‘I love lemons,’ Siobhan announced. ‘And limes. Nice wedge of one pushed into a bottle of beer.’
‘We should get a beer,’ Janette said. ‘Alfa was my favourite here.’
‘I think I’m dying of thirst actually!’ Siobhan announced.
Molly dropped the luggage. ‘I’m dying of the heat! Can we maybe find where we’re staying first and then think about beer?’
Both Siobhan and her mum were looking at her like she had turned into a rageful monster now. Maybe she had, because this was all out of her comfort zone. She took a breath. Nothing ever got achieved inside comfort zones, did it? She knew that from all the Boss Bitch Billionaire posts on Insta she consumed. This was an opportunity only good things could spring from, and maybe there would be time to relax once any legal formalities were over. How long had it been since she had actually properly and fully relaxed?
‘Molly,’ Janette said in a soft tone she remembered from her childhood. ‘Things move more slowly here in Greece. You’ll have to get used to that.’
‘I’m definitely going to get used to that,’ Siobhan agreed, all smiles.
But, first and foremost, they weren’t here for a holiday and Molly seemed to be the only one who was thinking that. Somehow, from the moment this trip was booked, her mum and Siobhan were thinking it had the potential to turn into an episode of Kavos Weekender .
‘Cheer up, sweetheart,’ Janette said, slipping an arm around her shoulders. ‘And relax.’ She squeezed her shoulder. ‘You’ve inherited something. Whatever it is, you’re going to end up with more than you had when we left England.’
Molly nodded. That was a fact. Unless Vaggelis Vlachos had debts. You could inherit someone’s debts, couldn’t you? Now that thought was spiking through her.
‘Right,’ Janette said, putting her hand on her case. ‘It’s not too far to walk, but the stones are a bit uneven as I remember, so slowly slowly. Or, as they say here, sigá sigá .’
Molly looked at her mum anew, beginning a slow saunter onto the road that wasn’t tarmac but looked more like it could be someone’s patio – chunky rock in varying sized oblongs. She hadn’t known her mum had been to Greece, and now she was speaking Greek like she was a Duolingo queen. It was all very very weird.
‘He could be a secret millionaire, you know,’ Siobhan said, coming up alongside Molly, dragging her case with her. ‘Imagine that. You could actually own half this town. That… place with all the men sat outside drinking beer I desperately want and… that shop with lovely-looking handbags… actually, I hope you do own that because they look really nice.’
Siobhan was, as always, thinking way ahead of herself, in complete contrast to Molly’s cautiously pessimistic stance. She really did need to knock that out of herself as it did not vibe with someone who wanted to revolutionise a whole industry. She needed to believe that good things could happen. She needed to manifest it.
‘I think it’s a village,’ Molly said, pulling her case and following her mum. ‘Not a town.’
‘Well, maybe you own half the village then! Or at least one of the things from his house will be an undiscovered painting from one of those famous painters and be worth a mint.’ Siobhan elbowed her. ‘Money, Molly, Molly…’
She was singing it to the tune of ABBA’s ‘Money, Money, Money’ and it did make Molly smile. And they were on a Greek island! Somewhere Molly would never have believed she would be this summer! Perhaps that in itself was as much the gift as anything she had inherited.
‘Too blessed to be stressed, remember,’ Siobhan told her. ‘Come on! I want to sit by the sea and drink an ice-cold beer!’
That idea did sound appealing. Maybe it was time to indulge in the moment just for a second.
‘OK,’ she replied. ‘But help me keep my mum off the cherry brandy.’